Jumping Jellybeans! A car shorter than the Smart ForTwo! Fiat has recently previewed a new ultra mini concept car called the Mio at the Sao Paulo Motor Show in Brazil. This tiny, diminutive, miniest of all minis, bacterial, amoeba-like, little, petite, plankton-sized car is only 2.5meters in length, the same length as the original Smart ForTwo which has now grown into the longer 2.69m 2nd Generation. I suppose if Fiat gets enough positive response from people, this little Mio will enter production and everyone can have the opportunity to drive another tiny-mobile, instead of only having to go out and buy a Smart.

I do not wish to suggest electric cars like the pathetic G-Whizz (which is actually a half-baked electric car unlike those made by larger manufacturers) or some Made in China Smart replica as valid competitors to the Smart, which is why I left any of them out. Anyway, the Fiat Mio concept has a lot of people friendly gizmos such as mobile phone integration, touch screen controls, GPS, large glass roof and an entertainment system. It also has drag reducing wheel covers and it basically a single blob type shape with some hints of the original Fiat 500. You could also magine a Mitsubishi I that is even more shorter, smaller and with wheel covers.

According to Fiat Brazil (who seem to be handling this project -which is why most of the world seems to have been unaware of the project), via their website www.fiatmio.cc, the Mio was originally called the Fiat Concept Car III (FCCIII) and then morphed into the Mio. The design and specs were created in colaboration with 17,000 people worldwide who had registered interest and had participated in sending themes for the concept car in a future urban environment. The main themes were mobility as well as sustainability.

One quite ambitious theme is the fact that Fiat has stated that the Mio was